What can you do with an organic garden? Have you thought about it? If you took the time to establish and maintain an organic garden, what benefits might you and others realize from the effort?

* provide healthful food for you and your family
* produce enough to sell, increasing your family income
* give you important exercise and sunshine
* beautify your home with flowers
* provide for those who are in need

Organic Garden in Johannesburg

Most of the reasons for which people start an organic garden are related to self interests. There are other reasons, however, that are more altruistic. An organic garden can be of great help to those who are in need.

In Johannesburg, South Africa, there is a beautiful, 17-hectare garden. It is guarded by huge gates, and by neat, uniformed guards. This once was a traditional garden, but in the last few years, it has gradually become an organic garden.

From this organic garden, the owners of the estate feed their household and beautify their rooms with flowers. The huge organic garden, however, provides much more food and flowers than the estate can use. So what do they do with the extra produce and flowers?

Charity Begins in the Organic Garden

All excess produce and flowers from this organic garden are sold, and the money given to charity. When I read about this, I started thinking about ways in which an organic garden could be used to exercise charity. Starting with the idea above, I began a list.

* Sell excess produce and give the total proceeds to charity.
* Donate excess produce to a local food bank.
* Deliver excess produce to local families in need.
* Set aside a portion of the organic garden for the use of poor families.
* Offer to oversee a school service project and help children work the organic garden, learning about gardening and giving produce to poor.
* Establish a local organic garden “farm” with plots available for those in need to grow their own fresh, organic produce.

You will be able to add to the list. There are many ways in which an organic garden can be used for charitable purposes. A healthy organic garden can be expected to produce in greater abundance than a traditional garden.

Did you know that your organic garden contains sugar? You may not be growing sugar cane or sugar beets, but every plant in your organic garden contains a percentage of sugar.

The percentage of sugar in your organic garden can be measured by a simple, hand-held instrument known as a refractometer. A refractometer measures sugar percentage: the “Brix” level.

Example:

Suppose you place a dry leaf of lettuce in a garlic crusher or similar implement. You squeeze out the lettuce juice, placing a drop onto the prism of the refractometer. Hold the instrument to the light, and you can read the percentage of sugar your lettuce leaf contains.

Reasons for Using a Refractometer

here are good reasons for the organic gardener to use a refractometer. Most organic gardeners are growing their own produce in order to have quality. They want to know that their fruits and vegetables are giving them the nutrients they want. But sugar?

*Organic garden produce yields natural, nutritious sugar. It is far different from the super refined sugar most restaurants serve.

* The mineral and protein content of your organic garden produce, and the quality of the protein, are all directly related to the percentage of sugar in each plant’s juice.

* Organic garden plants with higher sugar percentages are more pest resistant, making your pest control work less challenging.

A refractometer is an inexpensive way to test the sugar percentages.

The Best Sugar Percentages

Organic gardeners can rely on standard “Brix” sugar percentages that are provided for most crops. They levels range from “poor” to “excellent” and can tell you whether your organic garden is healthy.

There is insufficient space here to give the full list of refractometer readings, but we offer the following as examples. In each case, the percent given is that of sugar in the plant’s juice (sap).

* Apples: 6 percent is poor; 10 percent is average; 14 percent is good; and 18 percent is excellent.

* Bananas: 8 percent is poor; 10 percent is average; 12 percent is good; and 14 percent is excellent.

* Beets: 6 percent is poor; 8 percent is average; 10 percent is good; and 12 percent is excellent.

* Broccoli: 6 percent is poor; 8 percent is average; 10 percent is good; and 12 percent is excellent.

* Cabbage: 6 percent is poor; 8 percent is average; 10 percent is good; and 12 percent is excellent.

* Corn (Sweet corn): 6 percent is poor; 10 percent is average; 18 percent is good; and 24 percent is excellent.

* Grapes: 8 percent is poor; 12 percent is average; 16 percent is good; and 20 percent is excellent.

* Lettuce: 4 percent is poor; 6 percent is average; 8 percent is good; and 10 percent is excellent.

* Tomatoes: 4 percent is poor; 6 percent is average; 8 percent is good; and 12 percent is excellent.

Test Conventional Market Produce

When you buy your refractometer, you may want to test produce from your local grocery store before that of your organic garden. You may be surprised to find that the big, beautiful heads of lettuce have almost no nutritional value. They rate “poor” or below. Tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli – commercially grown vegetables are so often grown in depleted soil that their sugar percentage – and therefore their protein and mineral values – are far below par.

Good Soil Is the Key

Low sugar percentage readings are a warning that your organic garden’s soil needs help. Feed the soil, and the soil will feed the plants.

In 2002, an analysis by British scientists found that almost one-third of all food on sale in Great Britain was contaminated with toxic pesticides. That included fruit and vegetables. The figures are similar in other developed countries, as growers try to increase crop yield and fill supermarkets with tempting produce.

Many of these food-contaminating pesticides can damage your nervous system. Some can disrupt hormones. Some can even inhibit the development of your baby’s brain while it is still in the womb.

So there you stand in the produce section – looking at the organic fruits and wondering. Should I be buying organic fruits instead? If I’m going to peel my fruit anyway, is it a waste of money to buy organic fruits? If I can only afford organic fruits some of the time, which non-organic fruits might be safe?

Inedible Skins

On the one hand, peeling most fruits does not make them safe. Pesticide residues are often found within the fruit itself. On the other hand, there are some fruits that are clothed in skins that keep pesticides out. Peeling these will let you avoid most of the pesticide residue. You would not need to buy organic fruits in these cases. For example:

* Banana peels keep most of the pesticide away from the fruit. When you discard the peel, you discard most of the pesticide residue. If you plan to cut your banana in half, peel it first to avoid introducing pesticides into the meat of the fruit.

* Melon rinds also tend to keep pesticide away from the pulp. Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and similar melons should be washed well before cutting, and peeled completely before serving.

It appears that inedible skins on fruit keep pesticide residue at a minimum.
This is not always true, however. Some inedible skins are not good barriers. In these cases, you would want to spend the extra for organic fruits.

* Mandarin oranges: Virtually all of the mandarin oranges tested by the scientists contained pesticide residue. In 94 percent of these fruits, more than one pesticide had remained present. Opt for the organic fruits.

* Lemons: Virtually all lemons also contained pesticide residues. More than one pesticide was present in 90 percent of these. Choose organic fruits.

* Grapefruits: High proportions of the grapefruits tested were laden with pesticides – more than one in 44 percent of the fruits tested. Select organic fruits.

* Kiwi Fruit: This fuzzy skin is definitely non-edible. You must peel it away to get at the sweet, lime green fruit inside. It appears to be a good barrier, but multiple pesticides were found in 25 percent of the kiwi fruit tested. This, too, is a case where organic fruits are worth the extra price.

Pesticide-free Organic Fruits

Sadly, many organic fruits in the above categories have also been found to contain pesticide residue. Either the growers are not adhering to regulations, or air-borne pesticides from neighboring farms and orchards are infesting organic fruits.

You cannot be certain that your organic fruits are completely free of pesticides, but chances will be better than with non-organic fruits.